"To talk about the optimal age to die, it's basically saying once you're past 75, you're costing too much to keep around and maybe you should just let go.

"The next step from that's going to be we'll help you let go. This sounds like Germany in the 1930s."

During an appearance Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Emanuel explained why he believed 75 years was long enough for a person to live, saying that's about the time health began to decline.

"I picked 75, when you think about the combination of physical decline, the rise of Alzheimer's, the loss of creativity. And I really say you need to think about what you're going to leave your children, your family, your community, the country," Emanuel said.

Morici is appalled.

"You know as a professor, this is very bad social philosophy, that's all I can say. It's sickening," he said.